By: Justicia Shipena
Employees of CIS Security Services in Katima Mulilo say they have been issued final warning letters after planning a demonstration over their delayed salaries.
The Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (NATAU) regional coordinator, Alex Taimo, confirmed this to The Villager. He said that the move by the company could be taken as an intimidation tactic to silence employees. He also said employees had not received their salaries for May.
The demonstration, planned for Tuesday morning, has been delayed.
According to Taimo, the employees were supposed to receive their monthly payments on the 25th.
“This is not the first the salaries have been delayed,” he said.
He said the employees are owed salaries for May, adding that the company always delays paying the workers.
He added that the company could not intimidate the workers by giving them final warnings for asking what was owed to them.
“The company should inform the workers that there would be a delay. The company must respect the workers,” he adds.
Taimo said he told CIS that it is unfair for them to keep the employees in the dark about their salaries.
“We, as the union, are not happy about this. The workers can stay away until we can solve that problem.”
When quizzed about the meeting he had with the owner of CIS, Taimo said he was informed that there were delays in the money from its clients.
“How can you give these workers a final written warning? When I met with the company, they apologised. And the warning I am talking about is not a verbal warning. It is a final written warning. It is a serious matter,” said Taimo.
He further stated that CIS told him there was an error, and the employees had to wait.
“He had the planned strike remains because they had tried meetings with the company, but it bears no fruit. Any employer cannot write such a letter.”
The manager of CIS, Owen Sifu, says that the company has been experiencing a delay in salary payments; however, he said they informed the employees of the issue.
” We, as a company, are paid by another source. We tell our workers that our delays can be from the source where we are getting the money,”
he said.
He added that they are having a problem with the company’s accounts.
“So we managed to talk to our workers and let them know about the situation,” he said.
Sifu said the issue of the demonstration wouldn’t be there anymore.
“Let me not lie; there was an issue, but we tried to talk to them. But we explained to some of them.”
When quizzed whether all employees were informed about the situation, Sifu said: “We explain to some of them because we have workers inside and outside town, so we usually communicate with the people in town.”
He expressed that he believes the workers don’t understand the situation.
“They turn our back and go to the union, and then they report that we are refusing to pay them. Communication is a problem between the workers and us.
Sifu said he was not aware of a planned demonstration by workers.
